Once dubbed the "sick man of Asia" for its anemic showing during the 1980s Asian economic boom, the Philippines has now earned the title "weak man of Asia" — by caving in to terrorist demands in exchange for the release of a Filipino truck driver in Iraq.

By being the first country to pull its troops out of Iraq over a terrorist hostage situation, the Philippines has, in one fell swoop:

Encouraged terrorists thugs to take more hostages in Iraq — and beyond.
Emasculated itself at home in the face of a growing Muslim terrorist insurgency.
Stabbed its ardent counterterrorism supporter and 50-year ally, the United States, in the back.
Manila's desire to secure the safe release of its native son is understandable. But its decision to yield to terrorists' demands — even temporarily — shows that terrorism pays dividends and will encourage its continued use as an evil tool of influence across the globe.

In fact, by bringing its troops home, the Philippines will put other foreign workers in Iraq directly in the terrorist cross hairs. Whose workers will be next?

Manila's show of weakness in Iraq will only make matters worse at home. The Philippines faces a serious terrorist insurgency in its southern Muslim-dominated islands; it has suffered 73 terrorist incidents since 9/11, including 163 deaths and 675 injuries.

Southeast Asian al Qaeda affiliates Jemaah Islamiya, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf intend to establish a theocratic Muslim state on the large southern Philippine island of Mindanao. They're working in cahoots and already have set up joint training camps there.

The Philippines may also be putting its 10 million overseas workers in harm's way as terrorist pawns. (Filipino expatriates, as many as 500,000 in the Middle East, remit $8 billion a year to the Philippines, accounting for 10 percent of the country's economic output.) How long before a terrorist group snatches overseas Filipinos and hold them hostage in exchange for concessions on independence for Mindanao?

Once one of the most outspoken supporters of President Bush and the War on Terror, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appears to have lost her nerve on fighting terrorism abroad — at a minimum.

The Arroyo decision is also particularly offensive to Washington, which has been incredibly generous in helping the Philippine government fight terrorism since 9/11:

Washington spent over $100 million training, assisting and equipping the armed forces of the Philippines for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations at home as well as peacekeeping duties abroad.
America also gave Manila tens of millions of dollars in social and economic aid to address the problems contributing to the southern Muslim insurgency and terrorism.
Finally, Arroyo has called into question the Philippines' reliability as an ally. By contrast, Japan and South Korea faced similar situations in Iraq, but gritted their teeth and held firm despite political turmoil at home.

The Philippine pullout is small in significance militarily — 51 troops from a multinational force numbering 150,000. But it's huge politically, because it could lead to a chipping away of international resolve in Iraq.

Negotiating with terrorists never pays and the consequences of the Philippines' actions in Iraq will reverberate far and wide. We can only hope that after Spain's abrupt decision to retreat from Iraq this spring, the Philippines will be the last nation to appease these bloodthirsty criminals in Iraq — or anywhere else.

Peter Brookes, a Heritage Foundation senior fellow, is a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs. E-mail: peterbrookes@heritage.org

It was reported yesterday at http://www.tribune.net . However, it was only shown on their "headlines" page, which apparently isn't archived. The active link for the report is no longer working. But this is what they said yesterday:

A ransom of $6 million was offered and paid out to the Iraqi rebels holding Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz hostage, to ensure his release before President Arroyo's scheduled State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 26, a high level Philippine intelligence officer told the Tribune yesterday.This offer was alleged to have been approved by the President herself, who then tapped Malaysian emissaries for the job, the intelligence officer, who asked for anonymity, said.

Of the $6-million payoff, $5 million was shouldered by Malaysia and $1 million by the Landbank of the Philippines, the officer added.

The Malaysian government, Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday refused to confirm or deny reports that $6 million in ransom was paid out to the Iraqi kidnappers for the release of Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz in time for President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (Sona) scheduled for July 26.

Officials from both governments declined to give any statement and evaded media queries on the Tribune report which stated, quoting intelligence sources, that $5 million was shelled out by Malaysia while the Philippines coughed off $1 million from the Landbank of the Philippines for the release of De la Cruz.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye quickly referred the issue to the DFA, saying the Palace has a designated spokesman on Iraq issue, he said, adding that the DFA “spokesman will deal on that (ransom allegation) in due time,” he said.

He identified DFA Secretary Delia Albert as the designated spokesman on the Iraq issue.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque, however, also declined to give any statement on the report.

US Embassy's Deputy Press Attaché Ruth Urry said Washington is not aware of the ransom payment in exchange for De la Cruz's freedom.

“I have no information on that,” Urry reiterated when pressed to comment.

Manila and Washington have always maintained a no-ransom, no-negotiation policy with terrorists.

A spokesman for Landbank said in a radio interview that no such amount was released for such purpose. Landbank executive Vice President Gilda Tico over radio station dzMM denied that Landbank shouldered the reported $1-million share.

“That's not true...our government was not asked for any ransom by the Iraqis...we don't have such amount of money ($1 million) for a ransom.”

Imson claimed that the “no-ransom policy” of the government is still imposed. “There is no such thing about ransom being paid for the release of Angelo.”

But he noted that the negotiations are still ongoing for the release of De la Cruz but he has no accurate information as to when De la Cruz would be freed by his captors, the Kahlid bin-al Waleed group.

Bunye, while refusing to comment on the reported ransom payoff, however, admitted that De la Cruz would be part of President Arroyo's “presentation” to the public on her delivery of the Sona at the House of Representatives in Quezon City.